Taking Woodstock is not Ang Lee's finest

10 April 2012

Ang Lee’s attempt to put the Swinging Sixties on the screen with love, respect and a dash of humour is a distinct disappointment.

Taking Woodstock is largely set at the shabby El Monaco Hotel, not far from the site of the three-day concert.

Tiber (Demetri Martin), a gay decorator from New York, visits the hotel to help save his parents (Henry Goodman and a miscast Imelda Staunton) from bankruptcy.

After being introduced to LSD he gets a local farmer and an ambitious impresario to work together to produce what became one of the defining events of the Sixties.

All this is substantially true, but Ang Lee makes a very gentle comedy out of it. You’ll like the music better than the dialogue.

Taking Woodstock

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